Lewis l



y LEwIs L. GILLiLAND, or DAYTON, OHIO.

l sumar-MACHINE.

Specication of Letters Patent No. 8,069, datedApril 29, 1851.`

To all whom t may concern' l J Be it known that I, "LEwIs L. GILLILAND, of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Forming MatchSplints.; and I dolhere-` by declarethat thejfollowing isa full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference `being `had to the "accompanying drawing, which forms part ofthis` specification, and in which f l Figure 1 represents a view in perspective` of my rotary match splint machine and Fig.4

2 is aplanof the same. i, l

My `'nvention consists rst l in splitting `and pointing match `splints by knives `se-` `cured to a continuously revolving wheel,

which is also tted with a circular screw formed gage plate, which revolves withthe knives, and gagesthe breadth of the splints.`

`The second portion of my `invention consists of an apparatus for holding the block of which the match splints are formed and presenting itto the splitting, pointing, and gaging apparatus" in such manner `that the grain of `the wood, where the splitting knives are acting upon it, shall always be held in line with the plane inwhich the` `knives revolve; so that they may `split the block, without cut-ting across the grain, whether the latter` be at right angles or obliqueto the sides of the block.

In the accompanying drawing A is `the bed of the machine to which t-he other portions are secured. Two standards B, B, are

mounted upon this bed to support the boxes in which the mandrel C of the cutter wheel D revolves. This mandrel is fitted with a belt pulley c to which a belt is applied,

by means of which it is caused to revolve f. The splitting knife g, whose edge is straight, is of triangular form, its point projecting outwards beyond the rim of the disk.

`The other knife his secured to the face of the disk f immediately behind the splitting knife; this second knife is hooked is shown at Fig. 1 and its edge is bent outward from the face of the splitting knife as shown at Fig. 2. The outer end of this curved knife projects butslightly beyond therim of the disk, it follows in the track of the splitting knife and sliaves 01T the wood to form the points of the splints. That portion i of the disk f,`immediately preceding the edge of each splitting knife, is bent backward from the face, as shown at Fig. 2, in such manner that the space between the-hinder face of the rsplitting knife and the face of this bent portion of the disk shall be equal to the thickness of the match ns lints to be formed.

The apparatus for ligdling the block consists of a stock J `which rests upon a stationary support or pillow K that is firmly secured .to the bed A. This stock has a groove formed in its upper face of sufficient size to receive the block M of which the splints are formed, and is fitted with a sliding bar L, or driver, which slides in the groove, bears against the` end ofthe block, and causes the latter to bear against the face of the disk f.

This driver is drawn forward, or toward the face ofthe disk f, by means of a weight N, which hangs beneath the bed A, and is connected with the driver L by means of a cord y o, which is passed through an aperture in a standard P. The latter is projected upward' immediately in front of the face of the `disk f, its edge being just far enough therefrom to allow the knives to pass freely. This groove is removed and its place is supplied by a wedge formed block or clamp -L ;,.which is pressed toward the guard P by means of aspring t. The guard P stands in such a `position that its edge is a little within the rim of the disk f, and the inner side of the groove in the stock J is in line with this edge, so that as the block M is forced forward a narrow y portion of its extremity, equal in width with .the horizontal distance of the edge of the guard P from the periphery of the disk f. bears against thelatter.

The stock J has two concentric circular slots, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, formed in its inner face, and two pivots (also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2) are secured to the upper face of the pillow K and enter the circular slots of the stock J, when the lat-ter is placed upon the pillow. The pins are placed in the arc of a circle whose center is in the line in which the edge of the splint, block M touches the face of the disk f.

These pivots, in connection with the slots of the stock, prevent the latter from being moved endwise, but allow ity to be turned sidewise to turn the block to the position in which the grain is parallel with the plane in which the splitting knives revolve.

The operation of this machine is as follows. The cutter wheel is caused to revolve rapidly in the direction indicated by the arrow u in the drawing, by means of the belt applied to the belt pulley e. The driver L is ythen drawn backward in the groo-ve of the stock J and the block of which the splints are to be formed is inserted between its ,end and the face of the disk. rIhe driver is now allowed to bear with the force of the weight. N against the block, which is shoved endwise against the disk, being at the same time held firmly in contactl with the guard P by the action of the spring clamp s. As the disk f revolves the bent portions 2 pass the block, which, being pressed endwise by the driver, is fed forward afdistance equal to the recession of this bent portion, which is equal to the thickness of the splint, and is thus brought within the range of the knives. The splitting knife g first strikes the wood and splits it, while the pointing knife 7L, following in the track of the splitting knife, shaves off a small portion of the so-lid block at the margin of the split; the rim of the disk f follows in the track of the pointing knife, and thus prevents the block from being fed forward unt-il the neXt bent portion of the disk enters the split in the block which is again fed forward and again split by the succeeding knives. As fast as one block is split a new one is inserted in its place. And as each block is being split the edge of the disk and the splitting knives turn the stock J to such a position as will allow the splitting knives to act in the direction of the grain of the wood whether that be perpendicular or oblique to the face of the block. By the above process the blocks are split and shoved in but one direction. Each split block is now broken into square pieces which are introduced in the machine and split at right angles to the direction in which the first splits were made, as thfe pointing knife follows the splitting knife the wood, which has already been split into thin slabs and sha-ved in one direction, is now split and shaved at right angles to that direction, by which means the thin slabs formed by the first splitting are subdivided into square splints sufficiently pointed and ready for dipping, which operation may be performed in any approved manner.

As wood when treated by this machine is liable to be split .entirely through by the act-ion of the splitting knives I prepare the blocks by glueing a piecev of cotton cloth to their backs before they are split.- This cloth holds the splints together and enables the operator to handle them with facility without danger of breaking the splints apart.

'Ihe machine represented in the accompanying drawing is fitted with two sets 'oi knives; this number may be increased if deemed advisable, care being taken to increase the diameter of the disk f in a proportionate degree.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- A cutter wheel constructed substantially as herein set forth to split, point, and gage the size of match splints, in combination with the method of preventing the splitting knives fro-m cutting across the grain of the wood by supporting the block upon a stock is constructed to turn as herein set forth to present the grain of the wood, where the splitting knife is acting, in line with the plane in which the knives revolve.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

LEWIS L. GILLILAND.

Witnesses:

E. LINDsLY, A. M. SCOTT. 

